# Connectome 2.0: Developing the next generation human MRI scanner for bridging studies of the micro-, meso- and macro-connectome

> **NIH NIH U01** · MASSACHUSETTS GENERAL HOSPITAL · 2022 · $1,841,535

## Abstract

SUMMARY
We present Connectome 2.0, the next-generation human MRI scanner for imaging structural anatomy and
connectivity spanning the microscopic, mesoscopic and macroscopic scales. This work builds upon our expertise
in engineering the first human Connectome MRI scanner with 300 mT/m maximum gradient strength (Gmax), the
highest ever achieved for a human system, for the Human Connectome Project (HCP). The goal of the HCP was
to map the macroscopic structural connections of the in vivo healthy adult human brain using diffusion
tractography. While this instrument has made important contributions to our understanding of macroscale
connectional topology, our experience with the scanner over the last seven years has taught us that dedicated
high-gradient performance scanners can also acquire a rich array of diffusion measurements that provide
unparalleled in vivo assessment of neural tissue microstructure, such as the relative size and packing density of
cells and axons. However, the current Connectome instrument is limited in its ability to resolve the full range of
length scales needed to probe the microscopic and mesoscopic structure of the brain, due to basic design
limitations, important technical elements, and biological interactions with the large rapidly switching gradients.
Our experience with the first generation Connectome scanner and realization of its limitations motivates our
multi-site proposal for the next generation human Connectome MRI scanner (Connectome 2.0) to achieve
sensitivity to a broader range of cellular and axonal size scales, morphologies, and interconnections represented
throughout the brain.
 Our goal here is to translate our initial experience into building a one-of-a-kind high-slew rate, ultra-
high-gradient strength MRI scanner that is optimized for the study of neural tissue microstructure and neural
circuits across multiple length scales. In order to maximize the resolution of this in vivo microscope for studies
of the living human brain, we will push the diffusion resolution limit to unprecedented levels by (1) nearly
doubling the current Gmax to 500 mT/m and tripling the maximum slew rate to 600 T/m/s; (2) pushing the limits
of the RF receive coils and gradient characterization to enable maximum sensitivity with greatly reduced
artifacts using real-time eddy current corrected dMRI acquisitions; (3) developing new pulse sequences to
achieve the highest diffusion- and spatial-resolution ever achieved in vivo; and (4) calibrating the
measurements obtained from this next generation instrument through systematic validation of the diffusion
microstructural metrics in high-fidelity phantoms and ex vivo brain tissue at progressively finer scales. We
envision creating the ultimate diffusion MRI machine capable of addressing the BRAIN 2025 mandate to image
across scales, from the microscopic scale needed to probe cellular heterogeneity and plasticity, to the
mesoscopic scale for enumerating the distinctions in cortical str...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10458018
- **Project number:** 5U01EB026996-05
- **Recipient organization:** MASSACHUSETTS GENERAL HOSPITAL
- **Principal Investigator:** PETER J. BASSER
- **Activity code:** U01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $1,841,535
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2018-09-21 → 2025-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10458018

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10458018, Connectome 2.0: Developing the next generation human MRI scanner for bridging studies of the micro-, meso- and macro-connectome (5U01EB026996-05). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10458018. Licensed CC0.

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